Hi,
I'm Caroline and in today's episode I will lead you through a simple and gentle body scan exercise.
So a lot of yoga cues in public classes can seem really strange to those of us who haven't really spent a lot of time noticing the different parts of our bodies.
For example,
A cue such as breathe into your hips can easily elicit a response of confusion rather than a feeling of relaxation if the practitioner logically concludes that breathing happens in the nose,
Mouth and lungs and most certainly not in the hips.
The same can be said for many cues such as lengthen the sides of your ribs,
Engage your core,
Ground down into the mat and many many more.
Breathing into,
Lengthening,
Engaging and grounding down into our various body parts is a skill that takes practice,
Time and concentration.
But it's not something that is usually discussed during a public yoga class.
Rather the instructor simply gives the cues and the students follow or don't.
Body scanning therefore is a technique that is excellent in guiding awareness to different areas of the body.
Identifying feelings in these areas can also help you to identify your body as consisting of distinct parts that operate independently within a unified whole.
So this is why I'll lead you today through a quick body scan.
Take your time,
Follow your breath and really try to pay attention to the different parts of your body.
You can do this practice really anywhere you like.
For the first time it might be easier to do it in a quiet space where you won't be disturbed.
But as you begin to practice more and more with body scanning maybe you even find yourself someday doing it while sitting at your desk at work.
We'll start here getting set up and comfortable.
This practice is easiest to do for the first time lying down.
If that's possible for you today find a comfortable place to lie down either on your yoga mat on the floor,
On the couch,
On your bed or relaxing in a reclining chair.
Make yourself as comfortable as possible with blankets and pillows and find your comfortable spot.
After you've made yourself pretty comfortable take a moment just adjust any clothes,
Any blankets,
Any pillows that might be bothering you in an effort to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
If you feel okay doing so go ahead and let your eyes close.
If that's not possible you can leave them open and direct your attention inward and start to notice your breath.
So however it's coming right now if you normally breathe in and out through your nose continue with that.
If you normally breathe in or out through your mouth just notice and start to really notice your exhales.
And create space between your inhales and your exhales starting to take control here.
Lengthen your breath in and lengthen your breath out.
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Fill up through your lungs,
Feel your ribcage expand and then exhale through your mouth,
Sink into the surface you're lying on.
And we'll do that two more times.
Take a full deep breath in,
Deeper than the one before.
And exhale through your mouth,
Soften into your lying surface.
And last one,
Deep breath in through your nose and sigh it out.
Allow your lips to seal and breathe in and out only through your nose.
Try to find a consistent rhythm of your breathing.
You can count if you like.
Maybe breathe in for a count of four and breathe out for a count of four.
Or otherwise try to make your breath as consistent as possible.
And we'll start to move awareness to different parts of the body.
On inhales you'll contract this part of the body so flexing your muscles,
Tensing fingers,
Tensing toes.
And then on your exhales you'll release.
And with each release really let that part of the body sink into the floor,
Into your lying surface completely and totally.
And we'll go through each body part twice.
So take another full breath in and out.
And then on your next inhale contract through your face,
Scrunch in,
Squeeze your eyes shut,
Purse your lips,
Scrunch your nose and then exhale to release.
Move to your right arm,
Inhale to contract and exhale to release.
Left arm,
Inhale to contract and exhale to release.
Squeeze your right hand on your inhale and exhale release.
Squeeze your left hand on your inhale and exhale release.
Tense your right upper leg as you breathe in and release as you breathe out.
Tense your left upper leg as you inhale and release as you exhale.
Flex your right lower leg as you breathe in and release as you breathe out.
Flex your left lower leg as you breathe in and release as you breathe out.
Squeeze your right foot and toes as you inhale and release as you exhale.
Squeeze your left foot and toes,
Breathe in and release them,
Breathe out.
Inhale,
Tighten through your chest.
Exhale,
Release.
Inhale,
Contract through your buttocks.
And exhale,
Release.
Inhale,
Tighten through your pelvic floor and core.
And exhale,
Release.
Take a full deep breath in and out.
And we'll go through each part one more time.
Inhale,
Contract through your face,
Squeeze in,
Squeeze your eyes shut,
Scrunch your nose,
Purse your lips.
Exhale,
Release.
Contract your right arm.
And release.
Contract your left arm.
And release.
Squeeze your right hand.
And release.
Squeeze the left hand.
And release.
Tense the right upper leg.
And soften.
Tense the left upper leg.
And soften.
Flex your right lower leg.
And relax.
Tense your left lower leg.
And relax.
Squeeze your right foot.
And soften.
Squeeze the left foot.
And soften.
Contract through your chest and torso.
And release.
Flex through your buttocks.
And relax.
And finally contract through the pelvic floor and core.
And exhale to soften.
Take another full breath in and out.
And continue to breathe in and out through your nose at your steady pace.
And we'll begin to scan through the body.
So starting from the crown of your head to the very top of your skull and scanning down through your entire body.
We'll do this scan three times.
And the first time as you scan you will notice whether there are any areas in your body that feel either tight or painful right now.
So starting at the top of your head check in with your head,
Face,
Neck.
Move to your shoulders,
Upper back,
Arms and hands.
Continue scanning down through the chest and your mid back.
Your abdomen.
Your hips,
Pelvis and low back.
Your upper legs.
Knees.
Lower legs.
Ankles and feet.
Continue breathing gently in and out.
On our next scan you will notice whether there are any areas in your body that you don't really feel.
So no significant sensation in these areas.
Starting again at the crown of your head.
Check in with your face,
Neck,
Throat,
Shoulders and upper back.
Your arms,
Wrists and hands.
Your chest,
Ribcage and mid back.
Your abdomen.
Hips,
Pelvis,
Low back and glutes.
Upper legs.
Keep scanning to the knees and lower legs.
Ankles and then feet and toes.
Continue breathing at your own pace.
We'll take one more scan and in this scan you will notice whether there are any areas in your body that feel good today.
Starting again at the crown of your head.
Check in with your face.
Your whole head,
The back of your head.
Your neck and throat.
Your shoulders and upper back.
The entire length of your arm,
Elbows,
Wrists and hands.
Your chest and ribcage.
Your mid back.
Your torso,
Your belly,
Hips and low back.
Your pelvis and glutes.
Your upper legs.
Knees.
Lower legs.
Ankles,
Feet and toes.
As you continue breathing,
Imagine spreading your breath into all the areas of your body that feel tight or painful right now.
As you breathe in,
Direct your inner eye to these places.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine this spot sinking deeply into your lying surface or relaxing.
Repeat this for any specific area of your body that feels tight.
Continue your gentle pace of breathing in and out.
Your own personal rhythm of breath.
And as you continue to breathe,
Now imagine spreading breath into all the areas of your body that might have less feeling right now,
That maybe you don't notice as much.
Allow these places to begin to soften and relax with each and every exhale.
Continue to deeply breathe in and out through your nose at your own pace.
And this time,
Begin to spread breath and deeply breathe into all the areas of your body that feel especially good right now.
Imagine this good feeling spreading throughout your entire body like an expanding cloud with each breath that you take.
Inhale to gather the energy in these good spaces and then exhale,
Allow them to spread.
Continue feeling your body in each individual component,
But begin to notice it as well as parts of a whole.
Continue to soften,
Release and relax with each breath out that you take and try to keep that feeling for the next couple minutes.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Continue to relax.
Take another deep breath in through your nose and release it through an open mouth,
Sigh it out.
If they were closed,
Gently blink your eyes open.
And wherever you're lying down,
Extend your legs long,
Reach your arms up overhead,
Take a full body stretch and another deep breath in through your nose and then out through your mouth as you soften and release through your whole body.
Gently bring yourself back up to a comfortable seat whenever you feel ready and enjoy the rest of your day.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
May you always see your inner courage,
Speak your strengths and hold joy in your heart.
Namaste.
